Refrigerating apparatus.



No. 674,054. Patented May l4, I90l. W. BURNS.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

(Application filed June 26, 1900.) (No Model.)

m6 v I [mentors n1: nomus Pcrcns co Puc'rauwou wuwmnfom o. c.

W/(MW llwrrnn STATES PATENT rricn.

IVALTERS BURNS, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRUNSW'ICK REFRIGERATING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,054, dated May 14, 1901. Application filed June 26, 1900. Serial No. 21,626. No model-l T to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTERS BURNS, a citizen of the United States, residing in New Brunswick, county of Middlesex,State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus of the general character of that shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 612,804, granted to E. W. Howell October 18, 1898, in which the cooling effect is produced by the expansion of a volatile liquid or gas, and particularly to apparatus in which an aqueous solution of the gas, such as ammonia, is heated in a still, the vapor or gas then condensed by cold and pressure to an anhy- 2o drous liquid, the liquid then allowed to expand again into the gaseous form to produce cold, and the expanded gas ultimately returned to the still and absorbed by the liquid therein.

The object of the invention is to simplify and improve apparatus of this character so as to adapt it for practical use, even on a comparatively small scale, and particularly to facilitate the reabsorption of the am monia-gas by the water in the generator and to maintain a vacuum in the generator while the reabsorption is going on.

The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which it is represented as embodied in convenient and practical form in an apparatus of exceedingly simple construction and designed with especial reference to its use with comparatively small refrigerators.

Said drawing is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation, of such an apparatus, a portion of a refrigerator being also represented in connection therewith.

In the apparatus represented in the drawing the aqua-ammonia or other solution of gas is received within a still or generator A of suitable capacity and construction, which is provided with a suitable heater B and, if desired, with a jacket 0. The gas which is given ofi when the aqueous solution is heated passes from the generator through a checkvalve D and a gas-drier E to a condenser-coil F, where under the influence of cold and pressure it is condensed and from which it passes into a suitable receiver G. From the latter it passes through a suitable expansionvalve H into an expansion-chamber I, expanding in the same or as it enters the same to the gaseous form, whereby the sensible heat is converted into latent heat. The expension-chamber is suitablyplaced within the refrigerator L in such a position as to produce the best effect. From the expansion-chamber the gas returns to the generator A, the flow of the gas being induced not only by the affinity of water for ammonia, but by the vacuum which in the meantime has been produced in the generator after the condensation and accumulation of the ammonia in the receiver and before the opening of the expansion valve, the source of heat beneath the generator having been extii'iguished or withdrawn,

so as to permit the water in the generator to become cool. The cooling of the water Within thegenerator is further promoted byasuitable cooling-coil M, which is connected With a suitable water-supply and also delivers Water to the condensing-coil F for the purpose of reducing its temperature. Within the generator and preferably surrounding the cooling- 8o coil M is a second or inner vessel or absorption-chamber N, separate from the generator vessel, the space between the wall of the vessel N and the surrounding wall of the generator A being purposely somewhat narrow for a reason to be stat-ed hereinafter. Near its top the vessel N is provided with one or more holes n for the escape of water and in or near its bottom with one or more holes n for the entrance of water. The pipe or conductor t', which returns the gas from the expansion-chamber to the generator, terminates within the lower part of the vessel N.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in the drawing, the still or generator being part filled with aqua-ammonia and the expansionvalve H being closed, heat is applied to the generator. As the aqua-ammonia is heated the ammonia passes off in the form of gas, is freed from water as it passes through the I00 drier E, is condensed in the coil F under the influence of the pressure and of the lower temperature which is maintained around the coil, and finally in the form of liquid amm'onia drains into the receiver G. When substantially all of the ammonia has passed off from the generator, the application of external heat is discontinued and the generator, with the Water contained therein, will cool off. The check-valve D prevents the return of any ammonia into the generator, and such gas as there may have been in the upper part of the generator will be absorbed by the cool Water, so that an almost perfect Vacuum is produced in the upper part of the generator. The expansion-valve H is now opened to permit the liquid ammonia to expand into the expansion-chamber I, taking up the latent heat and reducing the temperature of the surroundings. From the expansion chamber the gas returns to the generator under the influence of the vacuum and of the great affinity of water for ammonia; but instead of being allowed to enter directly into the main body of water within the generator it is discharged into the inner vessel or absorption-chamber N. This chamber being filled with water, absorption goes on rapidly and the temperature of the water is thereby raised somewhat. The warmer water passes out through the upper openings at; but as the cooler Water which replaces it must enter the absorption-chamber at the bottom, and as the space between the wall of the absorption-chamber and the wall of the generator is comparatively narrow, a downward current is maintained in that space, which causes the water which has been charged with ammonia to come in contact continually with that which has not been charged, thus thoroughly and gradually diffusing the ammonia throughout the Water and preventing the rise of free gas to the surface or the release of gas at the surface, and thereby maintaining the vacuum in the upper part of the generator until all of the gas has been reabsorbed. The cooling-coil M within the absorption-chamber keeps down the temperature and facilitates the absorption of the gas. It will be obvious that by using two generators and connecting them properly with the other parts of the apparatus it will be possible to use them in alternation, and so secure a continuous cooling effect.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination with a generator and a condenser, of an absorption-chamber located within the generator and connected with said condenser, the outer Wall of said absorption-chamber being separated from the surrounding wall of the generating vessel by a space, substantially as shown and described;

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination with ageneratorand a condenser, of an absorption-chamber located within the generator and connected with th'e condenser and a cooler within the absorption-chamber, the outer Wall of said absorption-chamber being separated from the surrounding wall of the generator vessel by a space, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination with agenerator and a condenser, of an absorption-chamber located within the generator and connected with the condenser, said absorption-chamber having openings near its top and at its bottom, the space between the Wall of the absorption-chamber and the wall of the generator being comparatively narrow, whereby a circulation of the liquid is maintained around said absorption-chamber during absorption, substantially as shown and described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 20th day of June, A. D. 1900.

WALTERS BURNS.

In presence of- A. W. JURISOH, DAVID MODAVITT. 

